YOKO Ono today watched the Queen open the new Liverpool John Lennon airport and said: "My husband would have been so very proud."

YOKO Ono today watched the Queen open the new Liverpool John Lennon airport and said: "My husband would have been so very proud."

Her majesty's first stop on the latest leg of her Golden Jubilee tour of the UK was the airport - to open the new #32.5m passenger terminal named after the former Beatle.

Wearing a summery pastel green suit the Queen chatted informally with John Lennon's widow who had flown in from New York especially for the occasion.

And Yoko told the ECHO: "If John had been here today to see this he would have been so honoured. He would have been so very proud."

The Queen also met sculptor Tom Murphy, who designed and built the John Lennon statue in the new terminal building.

He said: "I was delighted to show my work not only to Yoko once again but also to the Queen.

"I chatted to the Queen about my four-year-old son who loves Beatles songs. "I said to her 'you must have met John a few times' and she said she had, and we both agreed that he was great fun.

"I told her that like good wine his songs had mellowed with time and she agreed.

"She said the statue was really nice."

He added: "Yoko was a bit nervous so I was trying to keep her relaxed." Airport chairman Robert Hugh welcomed the Queen and invited her to unveil the plaque formally opening the new terminal which sits alongside the statue.

The Queen pulled the cord revealing the plaque and smoothed back the red velvet curtain to read the inscription and then sat briefly to sign the visitors book.

Rod Hill, who retires as Airport MD next month, was at the ceremony today, his first day back in six months after a health scare.

He said: "It is a very emotional day for me to see the Queen open our new terminal."

As the Queen visited the airport her husband was presenting certificates to Duke of Edinburgh Award winners at Bootle town hall.

Next, the couple were following their individual engagements by joining up for a visit to the Walker art gallery.

There they were meeting Sir Paul McCartney and wife Heather for a guided tour of the museum where the ex-Beatle is displaying some of his own artwork.

The Queen and the Duke were then going on a walkabout through Liverpool city centre.

They were due to go on a short stroll along Castle Street to the town hall for a civic reception.

But before sitting down to lunch they were watching a special cultural carnival from the Town Hall balcony, featuring a procession of floats themed to represent countries from around the world.

Lord Mayor Jack Spriggs and Lady Mayoress Patricia Lea were meeting the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh at the town hall.

They were then introducing the royals to a series of guests including council leader Mike Storey and Liverpool's Young Person of the Year, five-year-old Taylor Roberts.

Representatives from the universities, youth organisations and community groups were also greeting the Queen and Duke.

During the visit a number of roads in the city centre had to be closed with normal service resuming in the late afternoon.

Later the Queen was heading to Manchester to lead the opening ceremony for the Commonweatlth Games.